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Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has introduced legislation that could double the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n
The proposal was sent to parliament on Tuesday after cabinet approval last week, after a wave of arrests over alleged same-sex relationships, already banned under Senegal law.<\/p>\n
Addressing lawmakers, Sonko said the bill would punish what it describes as “acts against nature” with prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years, compared with the current one- to five-year terms.<\/p>\n
“If an act is committed with a minor, it will attract the maximum penalty,” he said, drawing criticism from rights advocates.<\/p>\n
Debate over LGBT rights has long generated tension in Senegal, a conservative country where some groups portray pro-LGBT activism as foreign interference.<\/p>\n
Religious organisations have held demonstrations in recent years calling for harsher punishments.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, police detained 12 men, among them two public figures and a prominent journalist, under anti-LGBT laws. Local media outlets say around 30 people have been arrested in total this month.<\/p>\n
Sonko explained that the draft law defines any sexual conduct between two people of the same sex as an “act against nature”.<\/p>\n
The bill proposes prison terms of three to seven years for anyone found to be promoting or advocating same-sex relations.<\/p>\n
It also prescribes separate punishment for those who accuse others of homosexuality “without proof”.<\/p>\n
Those found guilty of crimes in the bill could also face fines up to 10 million CFA (about $18,000; \u00a313,000), Sonko added.<\/p>\n
Sonko said the revised law would keep the offence at its current misdemeanour level.<\/p>\n
“We can achieve the intended objectives without going so far as to elevate the acts to the level of more serious crimes,” he added.<\/p>\n
A date has yet to be set for a parliamentary vote on the bill, in a chamber controlled by Sonko’s Pastef party.<\/p>\n
Sonko, a former firebrand opposition leader appointed prime minister in 2024, had pledged to criminalise same-sex relations in the Muslim-majority country.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch said the recent anti-LGBT crackdown violated “multiple internationally protected rights,” including equality and nondiscrimination.<\/p>\n
Several African countries have also introduced similar sanctions against the LGBT community. In September last year, Burkina Faso’s transitional parliament approved a bill banning homosexual acts, while its neighbour Mali also adopted legislation criminalising homosexuality in 2024.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Uganda voted in some of the world’s harshest anti-homosexual legislation meaning that anybody engaging in certain same-sex acts<\/a> can be sentenced to death.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Wycliffe Muia <\/em><\/p>\nMore BBC stories on this topic:<\/h2>\n